


Douce Souffrance

by MoonllShadow



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Identity Reveal, Gen, Marichat | Adrien Agreste as Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Miraculous Ladybug Love Square
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2020-01-07
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:20:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21825055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoonllShadow/pseuds/MoonllShadow
Summary: Life in the institute is normally carried out. So normal as what it could be for her life. She was still a shy, intelligent and cheerful young woman, but a daily heroine, even without the mask. He still had to deal with more problems that seemed to leave him without a life of his own. One rainy afternoon was enough for fate to play its cards. And something between the two began to change. Marinette was sixteen when she understood what a first (and true) love was. A sensation that was interrupted due to the circumstances that threatened her heart.They have not seen each other since that day, she left after finding refuge among the arts. He stayed, trying to find a way to achieve her forgiveness.After a few years, fate will join them together again. Between surprises and misunderstandings, their love will eventually flourish, from where they left it last time... However, will they overcome together the obstacles that arise to find a happy ending?
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Luka Couffaine/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Kudos: 5





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hiya! uwu This work was first published in Spanish on Wattpad :) so if you want to read it in this other language (it it's comfortable for you) you can find it under the same name :D  
> Thanks for checking this out ^^

# Prologue

The night had fallen over The City that Never Sleeps, the lights dominated the downtown streets and its inhabitants still wandered in search of some fun... or some dispersion.

It was the case of the young Marinette Dupain who, after several days of insomnia, had opted for a night of relaxation in her favorite cafeteria overlooking downtown Manhattan, very close to her apartment. She walked under a black umbrella, wide enough to cover more than one person, she had left shortly after the sky was covered with clouds and rainy streets after all.

For several days she had been going around the matter after Alya's visit that, through so many years had been insisting her to cease being so stubborn, what happened was not her fault and neither was his...

And perhaps deep down she was aware of it, but she could not simply forget that despite the fact that the truth had revealed, the things that were said, the problems they had had and the injuries that had been made still fluttered like butterflies around them.

It did hurt. It hurt almost as much as the fact that she still loved him, loved him so much that she had not been able to forget a single moment that passed by his side.

It was an irremediable fact. She had already tried to find a way to get him out of her life, heart and mind, but it was impossible. She closed her heart towards love, because, even if she denied it incessantly, she already knew that no one, ever, could ever replace him.

But all was not well, there was something that disturbed her. Every night that she felt unstable and resorted to her current favorite drink, she felt strangely observed from afar, as at that time, so that a chill stopped her walk abruptly, forcing her to stay alert to her surroundings, as if looking for the source of that fear that she began to believe that it was not only due to fatigue.

"Marinette ... are you feeling bad? We should go home".

But she couldn't just fall apart, not when she still had her faithful friend, that little reddish creature that was the reason why everything in her life changed for the better.

She entered the premises after placing her umbrella on a hook near the door that the owner had allocated for cases like that. She stood in line and waited for her turn.

"It's okay, Tikki, we'll just go for that Capuccino and we'll go back, do you want something?" She whispered, putting on the headset as if on a phone call to camouflage her talk with the little reddish one that was hidden between the folds of her favorite scarf, which, despite keeping hundreds of memories, she had not dared to throw away.

"Cookies or chocolates or cake, or those little colorful cupcakes, like the ones your father makes," he said with emotion, unable to decide among the piles of sweets typical of the area that despite being appetizing were a cluster of sugar and buttercream, especially cream, that had nothing to do with the delight that her father prepared for her every weekend when she returned to Paris to visit them.

Marinette waited for her request to be ready, while wandering between thoughts, still remembering that past that every night tormented her between dreams, especially the current era in which she inevitably ended up remembering both the first kiss and the last, as well as a bad feeling that had unleashed more than a month ago, when she felt overwhelmed by the sensation of being observed from somewhere in the city. It was not the first time, but she knew it was not normal at all, there was something else, something that had to do with her teenage memories. What other reason would there be for her to always wander in the memories of that entire year they were together?

"Miss Dupain ... everything in order?" —The cashier, several years younger than her and whom she had already known for a long time, brought her back to reality, worried about the strange expression of anguish that was reflected on her face.

Since childhood she never change a single bit, it was an open book as far as feelings were concerned. She nodded as she smiled.

"Everything in order, Clair. Thank you." She took the paper case in which her purchase was stored, next to the cappuccino cup with cream that she held carefully not to burn. "Go home carefully, yes?"

But the girl did not return the answer, bewitched by the figure that had just come through the door.

A strange sensation caused her to turn around and let curiosity dominate her for an instant, an instant that was enough for her world to crumble and to recompose itself in an infinite loop that she was unable to stop.

His blond hair, his emerald gaze fixed on her and all of it soaked by the external rain. He was taller than she remembered, with his sculptural body of a man who had left that teenager as nothing more than a memory. The air escaped from her lungs, she would recognize him wherever she were...

"Marinette... wait... please..." He breathed agitatedly as he ran to the premises when he saw her passing by as he headed to the hotel where he was staying across the street. He would recognize her wherever he went, and he would not lose the opportunity destiny was giving him, he would not lose it once again. "Wait..."

She remained speechless, forgetting time, space, circumstances, only attentive to whom for so many years stole her heart. Her eyes filled with tears that mixed happiness and pain at the same time... All she was able to pronounce was the name she refused to say for so long.

"Adrien..."


	2. Cécité émotionnelle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's go back to where things started.

_Seven years ago..._

Classes had been interrupted thanks to the alert of a new villain near the Pont des Arts. All the other bridges that were built over the Seine were completely shattered, making it impossible to move from one shore to another. Some sculptures were broken, as were the walls of some buildings that also had soot surrounding the cracks, as if a chain of explosions had been unleashed. And they were not far from reality. 

Ladybug and Chat Noir were fighting against an akuma that had appeared in the port of the Seine River. He wore a sailor suit tight to the body, skin of gray shades like that of a shark, a violet scarf around his neck and a naval-style hat. He threw hundreds of bottled ships that crashed into walls exploding as if they were bullets from a cannon of a royal galleon. The heroes had no problem dodging them, but their work had been hampered by having to save more than one civilian who was in the villain's way. By the time they were able to corner him near the pier and other ships, they were more exhausted than normal. They could not approach without having explosions surrounding them. 

"What will we do with Davy Jones?", the blond joked approaching his companion. 

"We must find a way to snatch his handkerchief ..." said the jetblack haired lady, catching her breath as she devised a plan. She looked around, finding a small steam ship. "Lucky Charm!", she exclaimed without wasting time. "Chat, get close to that ship and create a gap at the top of the chimney" 

"As you wish, My Lady," he smiled, jumped with the help of his batton and taking advantage of the fact that the Akuma was distracted, used his cataclysm to open a large hole that let the smoke escape easily. 

Ladybug, meanwhile, had a smoke bomb in her hands. She jumped to the place where Chat Noir was, and waited. 

"Hey! Requin!", she called the attention of the shark man, who, after seeing them showed a smile full of fangs. With all the strength in the world, he pounced on both heroes. "Jump Chat!" 

She threw the smoke bomb against the chimney, doubling the steam and making impossible the akuma to see, who, without thinking twice, threw the bottles in different directions, which exploded before leaving the forming cloud of smoke. When they exploded, they hurt the man leaving him momentarily unconscious. Ladybug took advantage of the moment to snatch his handkerchief and purify the little butterfly. With the help of her miraculous, she returned everything to normal and clashed fists with her partner. The dots on her earrings issued an alert of the minutes remaining while the claws on the cat's ring did. 

"Well done!", Ladybug smiled, congratulating her partner, then turning around to throw her yo-yo to some point in the distance to leave. 

Chat managed to stop her an instant before. "Ladybug, I uh... Regarding what we talked about the other day...", It was difficult to bring up the subject, already in the morning he had sworn that it would be the last time he would try, and even if he did not get the desired result, he would finally accept it. "Would you consider accepting my feelings for you one day?" 

"Chat... You know that your friendship means just a lot to me," she replied, trying to soften her response that she knew her partner would not like at all. "The guy I like...

"Your feelings for him haven't changed, have they?" 

A dot disappeared the moment she was about to respond, subtracting one more minute for her transformation to end. "I'm sorry," she apologized and finally pulled the rope from her yoyo to leave and hide in an alley near the place. 

"I understand... Ladybug" 

The disappointment could be seen in his eyes, the ears of his suit droped as a sign of it, but nothing else could be done, he could only comand his own heart and that should remain like that. He had already tried for almost two years, practically since he had received his miraculous. And although he had visited the lovers' ice cream man, at this point he began to believe that the man had made a mistake in his prediction. He walked to the opposite side, not being so far from his home, he could take a moment until Plagg regained his energy and returned as soon as that happened. 

Marinette, meanwhile, had hidden not far from the pier. When her transformation disappeared, she took her kwami in her hands while catching her breath again. She was tired and somewhat sore from the damage that those explosions had caused to her body, it was exhausting to face more than one villain in the week, after all. 

"I feel bad for him," Marinette whispered. "As if my case were different, it's almost two years... Adrien still considers me a good friend" 

"He isn't a bad guy, Mari, you should grant him at least one opportunity", Tikki suggested. 

"If it were that simple, Tikki, I'd think about it... Yet, sometimes the heart rules over the head... ", she smiled half-heartedly so as not to worry the little kwami, although she could not avoid it for longer, Tikki increasingly saw her holder depressed. 

She was seriously concerned that history would repeat itself. That those destined to be together would end up separated one new era more. She could not allow it, she had to find a way to make both of them leave their emotional blindness and spend more time seeing the facet of the other who adored them with their hearts, either Ladybug towards Chat Noir or Adrien towards Marinette. 

They left the alley a few seconds later. 

The sky had been cloudy since the appearance of the akuma. With so much steam that rose high, the clouds ended up changing the landscape offered by the city, causing the rain to fall violently over Paris and leaving Marinette completely soaked by not having protection. She ran to hide under the roof of a restaurant, being stopped by a shout that caused her depressing thoughts to fade away. 

"Please! Get him out of there! My child!", a woman was crying out for help, near the edge of concrete where she watched in horror at her son sinking into the deepest part of the river. 

"Marinette... You can't go without protection, wait for the firemen to arrive", Tikki insisted, peeking out of her bag. 

"Tikki, you don't have enough energy, the last macaron ended with Requin and there's no time to lose...", Marinette didn't take her eyes off the river, carefully watching the place where the little boy had disappeared. "Don't worry, I will be back as soon as possible. 

The jetblack haired girl left her bag on a wooden pole of the pier and ran to the place where the woman was. She took off her shoes, socks and jacket, and then threw herself into the river which, due to the rain and the strong wind, had turned stormy. She disappeared in the same place, swimming against the current towards the bottom to save the little one. She didn't realize that a boy in a dark suit had watched her from the top of a building. 

Adrien had hidden in a parallel alley, however, he had transformed again without letting Plagg finish his cheese as soon as he heard the request for help. The last thing he could see was the girl diving into the dangerous river. He hastened to jump from a roof to the pier, thus arriving at the scene. 

"Marinette!" He exclaimed, calling the girl who had not yet appeared on the surface. He tried it a second time. "Call an ambulance", he suggested to the woman. 

The girl had found the boy a few meters deep, but the current prevented her from leaving the water with the speed and agility she would want. If only she could transform again, she would have succeeded instantly, but she was aware that it was too late to regret things and question her decision. When she heard her name coming from the surface, she reacted and with greater intensity and effort swam until she was out of the water with the little boy in her arms who was unconscious. She glimpsed her battle partner on the shore preparing to jump. Chat stopped when he saw her go out with the boy. 

"Chat...", she whispered, then swam until being close to them. 

"Let me help you," the cat boy said, pulling the boy out of the water first and extending his free hand toward the girl. 

"Thank you, Chat", Marinette was about to leave, when the starboard of a small boat rammed her because of the current that had pushed her away and knocked her unconscious. 

"Marinette!" Shouted Chat. He handed the child to his mother and threw himself into the water without thinking twice. He held Marinette with one of his arms and, with the help of his batton, pushed himself out of the river. The ambulance had arrived and was attending to the child that was beginning to react. 

Chat went out with Marinette observing that she had a bruise surrounding an open wound on her forehead, her breathing was completely irregular. He carried her to the hospital. He could not leave her with the paramedics of the ambulance, they would take a long time to attend her while stabilizing the child. The rain did not stop, and the roofs became slippery, which made it difficult for Chat to get to the health house. He tried to cover her with his body to avoid a sharp drop in her body temperature that he knew would make the situation worse. Some doctors came instantly to see the hero of Paris holding in his arms the unconscious girl. 

"Hurry up, bring a stretcher!" 

While the incessant murmurs kept appearing upon his arrival, one of the emergency doctors hurried to come to his aid. "Chat Noir, wait a few minutes, we will attend to your friend immediately," he said as he placed Marinette on the stretcher and led her into the emergency room. 

"Please take care of her," Chat whispered. 

His ring had lost almost all its claws by not having enough energy to maintain its power active. He looked for a bathroom in which to hide and deactivated his transformation, taking the little black kwami in his hands. He felt worried, anxious and terrified, his classmate had put herself in danger without him being able to do anything even when he was close. But everything was contrasted with the admiration that had suddenly arisen when he saw her with such determination after throwing herself to save the child. He was not able to explain what the hell was happening to him. Only one person had had the same effect in him. 

"Well, Casanova, if you're done thinking about your girl, I want my cheese," whispered Plagg while layinh on his holder's shoulder to rest. 

"She is my friend, Plagg. How can you say such things?". He pulled a piece of cheese from his jacket pocket. 

"Why else would you have come running here? There was another ambulance on the site, didn't you see it? 

"I was worried about what might happen to her, okay?", he kept denying there could be bigger feelings for the baker girl, after all, he had just resigned himself to the rejection of his beloved Ladybug. 

Plagg scrutinized him carefully, without taking his eyes off him to make him nervous as he devored his cheese. He knew he still had something pending to do. 

"Aren't you forgetting something, lover boy? Of course, on the dock", the last bite of cheese was zapped. 

"Marinette's things... "

He became Chat Noir again and left the hospital back to the pier. The rain was beginning to dissipate, leaving the city still cloudy. He searched near the banks, where he had seen the girl before. He found the jacket and shoes. He was willing to leave when Plagg, on impulse, undid the transformation and approached the posts farthest from the pier. 

"I think you're forget something," said the dark kitten, pointing to Marinette's bag that was there. He felt perfectly a well known and certainly precious presence. He said nothing to the boy, yet he felt practically the same as Tikki, he couldn't let his holder surrender to his soulmate. 

"Well, let's go back to the hospital. We must check up on her."

Adrien took the bag, held it tightly with the other things and, after observing that there were no one watching, he called his transformation once more.

Marinette was beginning to wake up, still being watched by the medical body of the emergency room. She felt a severe pain in her head and was still unable to open her eyes. She heard voices around her and sounds of strange machines, unintelligible. She moved trying to get up, but was held by someone else. 

"Don't worry, don't move yet, you're still not quite fine." She had a warm, very feminine voice that, after opening her eyes, knew that it belonged to an intern who had been put in charge of her case. However, she still did not quite understand hers situation. The last thing she remembered was Chat Noir trying to get her out of the river. 

"Where am I?", she asked in a soft voice. 

"In the hospital, you suffered a blow to the head that left you unconscious. We already treated it a few hours ago. It wasn't serious but you have to rest for a few days", the doctor explained as she helped her to settle back on the couch. 

"Hours!?" She got anxious after noticing through the emergency doors that the night had finally fallen on Paris. "My parents must be worried, I have to go back." 

"Don't even think about it, miss" Chat Noir appeared entering the cubicle where she was after slightly removing the curtain. 

"Thanks for coming, Chat Noir. Is it ok if I leave it in your hands?", asked the intern, who prepared to sign Marinette's history documents at the foot of the bed. "You can leave now, your parents have already been notified. But Chat insisted on being the one to walk you home". Each word became more and more confusing for the girl, especially the attitude of the feline hero who smiled at her sincerely but did not quite get his full confidence yet. 

"Thanks, uhm... 

"Christine. I hope we don't see each other so soon. You know what I mean, right?" She laughed even though it wasn't a very good joke. 

"Yes, I'll try not to come so often, Christine." 

"Well, both of you go carefully. And, Chat, please don't torment her with your jokes" 

"No more than you've already done with yours, Chris." They both clashed fists like old friends, then said goodbye only with a hand gesture. Marinette looked suspiciously at the situation, something that, instead of strengthening her confidence towards Chat, only made her continue to think that the feelings he had for Ladybug were not so real after all. 

"Did you finish Casanova?", she asked, narrowing her eyes. 

"Casanova?", but instead he took it as a funny misunderstanding, so he took advantage of the fact that she was more open with him being a hero than with his civil version. He approached with a picaresque smile. "Jealous, Princess?" 

"Ha! As if I were, but I'm not falling into your claws, kitty cat", she pushed him away by his nose. 

"Hey! Even when I have the decency to keep you from getting hurt again." 

"Excuse me?", she got somewhat annoyed. 

"I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself." 

"I have no doubt about that, Princess. But that isn't reason enough to put yourself in danger as you did today, that's what we are for", he poked her forehead, as a scolding. "Although... thanks to you, that little one was saved". His words were sincere, warm. "You were really brave, Marinette." 

The young woman was glad to receive such praise for her heroic side that was not very common for others to see in her civilian self. She concealed so well in her civil form that no one would even imagine the possibility that she was the well-known heroine of Paris. And she didn't expect it to be any other way, even though moments like that really lifted up her spirits. 

"But, I repeat it again, don't do it again," Chat said, handing her a bag with her things that had bothered to dry in the hospital laundries, except for the bag she hadn't dared to open in any moment. 

"It's all right, but I don't promise anything", she let out a giggle that sounded tender to the young hero, who, althought meeting with her about three times during battles and being close with her in school, had not stopped to admire her in detail. 

"Then I'll take care of it. Shall we go?" 

Marinette took her time to answer, clutching her bag to her chest feeling Tikki's presence in it. At first she assumed that Chat could have discovered her secret, but after his scolding she concluded that she could continue keeping her identity without problem. Soon she was relieved that Tikki was safe, she had to admit it, she had been truly reckless for not thinking about the possible consequences. She nodded with a smile. 

"Chat", she fixed her sapphires on him, with the same determination he had seen before. "Thanks for saving me" 

Something in his heart was removed, making it beat with greater intensity, awakening that unspeakable feeling of satisfaction that was left after saving anyone in danger, however, with her it became stronger, he could not really explain why. The only answer he found was telling him that it was because at last, after so long being schoolmates, he got to see the real Marinette. And in a way she also saw him for who he really was. An irony of fate that was just beginning to play an important role in their lives, beginning to gradually clear the <em><strong>emotional blindness</strong></em> they both had. He gave her a bright smile. 

"You're welcome, Princess"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cécité émotionnelle = Emotional Blindness... First Chapter y'all uwu 
> 
> Tysm for giving this fic a chance :) I really wanted to get back to writing hehe hope you like it :D


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